THIS WEEKEND
A lack of appealing films and the
start of the Summer Olympics sent box office sales tumbling as no film
was able to collect at least $6M over the Friday-to-Sunday span. The cumulative
total for the top ten fell to its lowest level in four years and the number
one movie posted the smallest gross since January 1997. The weekend's three
new releases contributed small amounts to the overall marketplace but DreamWorks'
Almost Famous
scored a sizzling per-theater average.

Topping a terribly
weak box office for the second weekend was the serial killer film The
Watcher with $5.8M, according to final
studio figures. Starring James Spader, Marisa Tomei, and Keanu Reeves,
the Universal release dropped a moderate 36% from its opening and has scared
up $17.4M in ten days. However, as the weekend's widest release, its per-theater
average slumped to a mild $2,115 from 2,745 venues. The
Watcher was produced by Interlight for
$32M although Universal paid $5M for domestic rights plus prints and advertising
costs. A final tally of around $30-35M could be in the works.

Opening poorly in second
place was the weekend's only new wide release, the action-comedy Bait
with $5.5M. The Jamie Foxx title entered 2,352 sites and captured a dismal
$2,332 average. Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman noted "the
Olympics had a strong effect on Friday, but we bounced back 38% on Saturday."
Demographic information was unavailable for Bait.

Two-time box office
champ Bring It On collected
$5.1M in its fourth frame sliding just 25%. Universal's hit teen comedy
has raised its cume to $50.9M to date. The dark comedy Nurse
Betty slipped a decent 35% in its second
weekend taking in $4.7M. After ten days, the USA Films release has grossed
$13.6M and could be headed for $25-30M.

The box office has
not collapsed this badly in years. The top ten films grossed just $34.8M
which was the lowest such cume since the weekend of September 13-15, 1996
when the top ten brought in $33.3M. The
Watcher's $5.8M take was the smallest
for a number one film since the weekend of January 24-26, 1997 when Jerry
Maguire led the frame with $5.5M in its
seventh weekend of release.

The Summer Olympics
in Sydney seem to be hurting the box office directly, and indirectly. Potential
moviegoers are staying home to watch their country's athletes compete for
medals instead of going to the theater to see movies which will most likely
still be playing days or weeks from now. Plus, in anticipation of the national
distraction of the Games, major distributors have decided not to release
many of their better films during this time for fear of not reaching their
target audiences. With the Olympics continuing for two more weeks, attendance
may remain low which will make it even tougher for October releases to
get consumers back into the moviegoing habit.

Space Cowboys
roped up $2.5M, off 25%, bringing its sum to a stellar $82.2M. Jennifer
Lopez saw $2.4M for her crime pic The Cell
which has grossed a solid $55M thus far. The Harrison Ford-Michelle Pfeiffer
thriller What Lies Beneath
eased only 13% with $2.4M giving the DreamWorks/Fox venture $145.6M domestically.

The weekend's lone
bright spot came from DreamWorks which launched Cameron Crowe's new film
Almost Famous
in limited release and grossed $2.3M. Playing in just 131 theaters, the
tale of a young journalist covering a rock tour in 1973 averaged a powerful
$17,669 per location. Since its Wednesday premiere in New York and Los
Angeles, Almost Famous
has collected $2.38M. Critics have been very supportive of the film which
witnessed a healthy 46% increase on Saturday over Friday.

DreamWorks distribution
chief Jim Tharp stated that the audience was split evenly between men and
women and that 70% were 25 and older. A promising 89% of those polled rated
the film "Excellent" or "Very Good". "Crowe's
name means a lot to fans and the sneaks we held last weekend really started
the word-of-mouth on this picture," Tharp said referring to last weekend's
sneak previews held in selected cities. The studio also held 418 sneaks
over the weekend in markets where the film will open next weekend and the
results were nearly identical to the prior frame's. Tharp estimates that
the company will add 600-800 more theaters on Friday and will be in 1,600-2,000
locations on September 29. Sony Pictures will distribute Almost
Famous overseas.

Miramax reissued the
summer's surprise hit Scary Movie
into wide release and claimed $2M. Playing in 1,997 theaters, the spoof
comedy averaged just $1,021 but brought its mammoth cume to $151.8M. Oscar-winner
Gwyneth Paltrow's new film Duets
debuted quietly in tenth place with $2M as well. Buena Vista launched the
karaoke comedy in moderate release with 581 runs and a so-so average of
$3,447. Co-starring Huey Lewis, Duets was
directed by Bruce Paltrow (Gwyneth's father) and carries a reported budget
of $16M.

Four films fell out
of the top ten over the weekend. Paramount's $3M standup comedy film The
Original Kings of Comedy laughed up $1.5M
in its fifth round. With $34M in the bank, the Spike Lee joint should conclude
with a superb $37-40M making it one of the summer's most profitable movies
as well as the director's top grossing film since 1992's Malcolm
X.

Wesley Snipes' latest
action entry The Art of War
brought in $1.55M in its fourth weekend lifting its cume to $27.4M. The
Warner Bros. release should finish its run with $30-32M.

Artisan's action film
The Way of the Gun
has grossed a mere $4.3M in ten days and should conclude with a disappointing
$6-7M. Highlander: Endgame
has conjured up $10.8M after 17 days and is likely to stumble to about
$13M before hitting video stores.

The top ten films grossed
$34.8M over the weekend which was down an alarming 47% from last year when
Blue Streak
opened in the top spot with $19.2M; and down 46% from 1998 when Rush
Hour debuted at number one with a September
record $33M.

Compared to projections, Bait
opened well below my $12M forecast while Almost
Famous debuted very close to my $2M prediction. Duets
launched below my $4M projection.

Take this week's NEW
Reader Survey which asks for your box office
prediction on the November release Charlie's
Angels. In last week's survey, readers
were asked how much the Summer Olympics will affect the box office. Of
1,287 responses, 23% said Very Much, 37% said Somewhat, 19% voted Slightly,
and 21% thought Not At All.

Now online, read the
annual Summer Box Office Wrapup which takes
an in-depth look at the busy season just concluded with analysis plus reports
on the Top 20 Films and Top 20 Openings of the season.

This column is updated three times each week
: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary),
Sunday (post-weekend analysis with
estimates), and Monday night (actuals).
Source : Exhibitor Relations,
EDI. Opinions expressed in this column
are those solely of the author.